Pithapuram is one of the very old towns of Andhra pradesh. It's old name is Pishtapuram. The names Sri peetham / Peethika puram / Puruhutika puram came from the Puruhutika Shakti peeth present here.

Where is Pithapuram ?

Pithapuram is located in the East-Godavari district of Andhra pradesh near Kakinada. The main temple in Pithapuram is of Kukkuteswara swamy. It is present in the South most corner of the village. The second important temple in Pithapuram is of Kunthi madhava swamy.

The temple of Kukkuteswara swamy is big in size with a highly sculptured Raja gopuram as it's entrance in the North. After entering in to the temple we'll see a pond called Pada Gaya Sarovaram. The first important thing to do after entering the campus is to sprinkle ourselves with the holy waters of Pada Gaya. Gayasura padamudrikas are present beside Dhwaja sthamba of Kukkuteswara swamy in the main temple. In the South-East corner of the temple Gaya pada Vishnu pada temple is present. There, the big foot-prints are of Gayasura and small ones are of Lord Vishnu.

Siddhi Ganpathi temple is present in the South side of the temple.

The temple of Sri Guru Dattatreya is present in the South-West corner of the temple. This is the only Datta peetham with the idol of Lord Dattatreya. All the remaining ones have Datta padukas as the resemblance of Sri Guru. A holy Audambara vriksha is present beside the temple. The Padukas present at the root of this tree are the real Padukas of Sri Pada Sri vallabha Dattatreya.

There are temples of Lord Srirama, Shankaracharya, Ayyappa, Visweswara and Annapurna in the West. In the North-West corner of the campus an old temple of Lord Subrahmanya is present which is very famous relieve devotees from Kuja dosha. A temple of Chandeeswara swamy is present in the North.

In the North-East corner of the campus, there is a temple of Lord Kala bhairava. Kalabhairava is the Kshetra palaka of the temple and it is a must to worship him.

In the main temple we'll come across a big Nandi made up of Ekasila Salagramam (Single holy stone). It is very beautiful. The Shiva linga of Lord Kukkuteswara is previously present in the form of a cock's head, but now it is covered with a new normal linga. Humkarini Durga is present in the left of Kukkuteswara swamy facing South. She is called as Shivaa. A small temple of Rajarajeswari mata is present beside Shiva temple.

KUNTHI MADHAVA SWAMY TEMPLE:

It is a very old temple of Lord Vishnu. It is one of the Pancha madhava kshetras. Here the Lord is worshiped by Kunthi devi (Mother of Pandavas). There are Upalayas for Lakshmi devi and Goda devi.

Once upon a time there lived a great Rishi by name "Ela". He was doing penance for Lord Shiva at Pithapuram. At that time the area was in draught. The villagers of Pithapuram asked Ela Rishi to relieve them from draught. Ela Rishi told that if he could get the Darshan of Lord Shiva he will ask a boon for them. He continued Tapasya. Lord Shiva appeared before him. Ela Rishi asked Shiva for a river. Lord Shiva gave river and told the Rishi that this river will come behind him untill next day moning.

Ela was passing through the Kimmeera seema (Area ruled by a demon Kimmeera) and reached Pithapuram. Lord Shiva wanted to test the Rishi. He appeared as a crowing cock. Ela felt that the next day morning has came. He became depressed and sat there. The river stopped there itself. Ela prąyed Shiva to mix the river in the Ocean, so that it will become holy. After a lot of prąyer Shiva appeared before him as Kukkuteswara and told that this was his wish to stop the river there. He also told that the river will become holy as it ended in Pada Gaya. By the boon of Shiva the name of the river became Ela river. It's water is used to worship Kukkuteswara swamy.